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In The Scenario, reporter Kirbie Johnson takes readers behind the scenes of the buzziest movies and TV shows to reveal how the best wigs, special-effects makeup, and more are created. For this edition, Johnson interviewed makeup designer Jennifer Powell and hair designer Florencia Anahi, the duo behind Prime Video's much-anticipated Legally Blonde prequel, Elle, to see how they transformed actress Lexi Minetree into the high-school version of everyone's favorite Harvard law grad.
In Elle, the prequel series to the 2001 film Legally Blonde, we learn how (and where) Elle Woods—the chipper, buttery blonde who conquered law school—grew up. The Bel-Air teen’s dreamy Los Angeles lifestyle gets interrupted with a major blow to her junior year plans: her dad, a notable plastic surgeon, botches someone’s nose and her family must move to a place known for not being sunny (or pink for that matter): Seattle.
The prequel also shows us that Elle's dedication to beauty—her bright blonde hair, rosy-pink makeup, and perfectly manicured nails—began long before joining Delta Nu. In fact, for makeup designer Jennifer Powell and hair designer Florencia Anahi, it was important that there was a throughline from the high school version of Elle, played by Lexi Minetree, to the Elle we see in Legally Blonde, played by Reese Witherspoon (who was executive producer for the Prime Video series). Images of Witherspoon lined the hair and makeup trailer walls as inspiration, while Minetree spent hours in the salon chair to achieve the perfect blonde. Here, Powell and Anahi share how they went about imagining Elle's life before law school—and the products and techniques that went into Minetree's mid-'90s transformation.
June Diane Raphael as Eva Woods, Elle’s mom in the series.
Prime Video/Kimberley FrenchElle's mom is the driving inspiration for her daughter's look.
Unlike many coming-of-age series, Eva (played by June Diane Raphael) is revered by her daughter. Elle looks up to her mother and finds her cool, emulating aspects of her look and taking inspiration from others. “This is a young girl who idolizes her mom,” says Powell. “Elle and her mom have a close relationship and they're both into beauty. It’s not all that they are, but it's definitely not a part of them that they feel they have to ignore or have to like squash down.”
One way Elle mimics Eva is that they both have French manicures with square tips, although Elle’s are shorter than her mom’s. Minetree had gel fills every two weeks from nail artist Tony Tran.
Another beauty treatment both mom and daughter adhere to in the series is the perfect spray tan, which helps physically express their characters’ sunny dispositions. “We were sending them for spray tans because we wanted them to stand out in Seattle,” says Powell. “No matter what the weather is, they're still dressed for and defiantly still holding on to that LA vibe.”
Minetree and Raphael got spray tans every five to seven days, varying between two levels of custom tans depending on how dark they needed to be, and between tans, Powell used MAC Face & Body Foundation to keep the color from looking splotchy. “[The formula] is so sheer and thin, and unless I'm covering tattoos, I want to see the skin [underneath],” Powell says. “And I didn't want anything frosty or shimmery; we're not doing Dancing With the Stars.” Powell also needed a foundation formula that could be easily cleaned up in case anything went wrong on set. “[Minetree and Raphael] are in some very beautiful vintage outfits, especially June. She's in cream, baby blue, all the soft colors, so I could not have any transfer.”
Minetree and Raphael as Elle and Eva Woods.
Kimberley FrenchMid-'90s references ranged from Allure magazine to Beverly Hills 90210.
Most of Powell’s references for the film came primarily from her personal experience in the mid-'90s. “I was 25 in 1995, so I was right in it as a young makeup artist,” she says. That includes early issues of Allure magazine that Powell kept and stacked in the corner of the makeup trailer. “Allure was, for me in my 20s, a very special magazine because it was the beauty magazine, so it was wonderful to pull from and reference,” Powell explains. “It was really fun to flip through the pages and look at the great, beautiful editorials and ads because the ads will also say so much [about that time].”
Powell referred to ads and editorials from 1994 to 1996 to keep in mind where beauty trends had been and where they were heading, something many hair and makeup designers do to help with period accuracy. She had images of mothers and daughters in the trailer, from Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson to Kathy and Paris Hilton. Stars like Britney Spears, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Kate Moss, and the Spice Girls served as inspiration, but her main inspiration was images of Claudia Schiffer and Witherspoon in Legally Blonde.
When thinking of Elle’s character, Anahi believed she’d be watching movies and TV shows like Clueless and Beverly Hills 90210, a backstory that informed the character's hair color. “She’s a classic, buttery blonde, no toner,” Anahi says of the shade. The goal was to keep her hair bright and warm versus cool, according to Anahi, likening the hue to Alicia Silverstone’s in the ’90s and, of course, Witherspoon's in the original film.
Mintree as Elle.
Prime Video/Jessica BrooksElle’s perfect pink lip stain is historically accurate (and still around!)
The lip color Minetree wears throughout most of the season is a product that was available to purchase in the ’90s, and it’s a product one could assume Elle was the first to adopt and share with her friends. “I loved Benefit’s Benetint in the ’90s, so Lexi’s wearing the original version,” says Powell. “I pulled out so many pinks when we were testing. My station was an array of every pink that I could think of, in case the producers wanted to see a more muted lip or something like that.” Benetint was one of the options, and not only did the rose-colored stain end up being the perfect color, but the budgeproof formula was also perfect for long days of filming. “It was nostalgic, it was beautiful on her, it holds up great, and you can mix it with anything,” Powell says.
If they needed to add a gloss on top, Powell used MAC Lipglass. For the big Cosmopolitan party in the series, Powell used L'Oréal Paris Colour Riche Satin Lipstick in Tickled Pink, a frosted blue pink and another legacy lip product from the ’90s that’s still around today. (L'Oréal Paris is the first season's official makeup sponsor.)
The '90s trend they avoided on Elle.
“Dewy” and “luminous” makeup were not a thing in the ’90s, but you won’t see Minetree looking matte in the show. “ I definitely wanted to honor Elle and her vision for glamour, and her vision for pretty and sparkly,” Powell says. “It reflects in her room and her clothing, her pens, her accessories, so it didn't make sense for her to be wearing a matte, neutral lip.” Instead, Powell opted for a satiny cream lip with a bit of gloss. “ I kept her on the edge of the sparkly L'Oréal girl… something more inspired by Claudia Schiffer.” (Editor’s note: Schiffer was a spokesperson for the brand in the ’90s.)
Prime Video/Jessica BrooksThree hair colorists helped Minetree achieve (and keep) her signature Elle blonde.
Minetree is a natural brunette. For her audition tape, her hair was dyed lighter and needed some work to get to the right shade of Elle blonde, which took six and a half hours. “When Lexi came to us [pre-filming], we had some color correcting to get her to the right level to match Reese Witherspoon's blonde,” Anahi says. “It was a journey. When that happens, you end up getting some breakage. It's a harsh process, but we nursed her hair back to health.”
The production was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, and Los Angeles. Minetree is based in New York and had to keep up the color for press interviews. Brittany Otash colored Minetree’s hair every other week while filming in Vancouver. For the LA-based scenes, Yukari Yokomizo took care of her blonde, and in New York, Minetree saw colorist Angela Hazelton.
Prime Video/Jessica BrooksElle’s signature bouncy hair features some 2020-era innovations.
If you want to mimic Elle’s bouncy hair at home without rollers, pull out your Dyson Airwrap— but not with the attachment you’re thinking of. “I wouldn't use the actual curl attachments, but more so the round brush,” Anahi says. “I love that one. It gives you great volume [and makes it] nice and smooth.” Anahi says she used Color Wow’s Dream Coat once a week to help smooth Minetree's hair, as well as the brand’s Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer.
“Whenever we wanted to do any kind of curl sets, we'd use Redken Hot Sets Thermal Spray 22,” Anahi says. “I love Redken. The brand is my go-to. For any flyaways (because when we get that backlighting in blonde hair, we have to get in there), we use the Tancho Wax stick. Some people know it from back in the day. It's a throwback, but it gets the job done.”
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